Another Point of Progress: Obama Dubbed, “Most Famous Living Person Ever”

To garner the title of, “President of the United States of America,” is a momentous feat that, until as of recently, only 43 lucky men in the history of our country have been able to lay claim to. However, according to Vanity Fair magazine, President Barack Obama has another bullet point to add to his resume: the title of “Most Famous Living Person Ever.”

Initially created by graffiti artist Shepard Fairey after he saw Obama speak in 2004, this iconic image became instantly recognizable all over the world

Mr. Obama’s story is solid rejuvenation of the American dream: the child of a Kenyan father and a Caucasian mother who spent his troubled teen years dabbling in substance abuse turned his life around, eventually graduating from Harvard Law School and moving on to the Illinois senate before hitting the national scene in Washington D.C. His charisma and appeal is an undeniable one that knows no age, class, racial – and, with the mass proliferation of technology around the world – locational boundaries.

“I’m not surprise he’s been given that title,” voices Heather Staats, assistant political editor for the Marist College student newspaper: The Circle.

“He has one of the best political websites that has ever been conceived, and his merchandise has been picked up by millions of people around the globe – ‘Obamamania,’ if you will. He is not just a politician. He has become a icon in himself, a symbol of change in politics, change in America, and change in the world,” Staats continued.

With a global population of over 6.7 billion people, our ever-evolving means of communication has facilitated Obama’s reach around the world like never before seen in history. The technology at our disposal is making the world a much smaller place; information can be blasted around the globe in rapid-fire succession, allowing even villagers in the remotest of locations to catch word of this epic event. He is seen as a relatable icon with an amazing story tell and an even more incredible journey to embark upon.

Nicholas Sera-Leyva, a Marist Junior who has been abroad for two and a half years, noted that even 4,000 miles away in London it was evident in light of this recent election what a, “global community ours had become.” He noted the unity he saw cross culturally to be astonishing.

“Polling in Germany, France, Britain and Russia shows that Obama would win by whopping majorities, with the pattern repeated in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. If November 4 were a global ballot, Obama would win it handsomely,” said Johnathan Freeland, a writer for the South Aftican newspaper, Mail & Guardian on September 13, 2008.

Now that the election has been said and done, a new chapter of history has slowly begun to write itself. However, this time it’s not being done with the quill and ink as our founding father might once have; instead, it’s being crafted by means of the internet and Blackberries all around the globe.